Small Solar-System Bodies

The title The Nine Planets is somewhat misleading. In addition to the (eight) planets
and their satellites the solar system contains a large number of smaller
but interesting objects.

Small Bodies

There are thousands of known asteroids and comets and undoubtedly
many more unknown ones.
Most asteroids orbit between Mars and
Jupiter. A few (e.g. 2060 Chiron) are farther
out. There are also some asteroids whose
orbits carry them closer to the Sun
than the Earth (Aten, Icarus, Hephaistos).
Most comets have highly elliptical orbits which spend most of their
time in the outer reaches of the solar system with only brief passages close
to the Sun. And there is a large and important class of Trans-Neptunian Objects or Kuiper Belt Objects (including Pluto) that orbit (mostly) beyond Neptune.

The distinction between comets and asteroids is somewhat controversial. The main
distinction seems to be that comets have more volatiles and more elliptical orbits. But
there are interesting
ambiguous cases
such as 2060 Chiron (aka 95 P/Chiron) and 3200 Phaethon which seem to
share some aspects of both categories.

Asteroids are sometimes also referred to as minor planets or planetoids
(not to be confused with "lesser planets" which refers to
Mercury and Pluto).
Some of the largest asteroids and Kuiper Belt objects may be classified as dwarf planets.
Very small rocks orbiting the Sun are
sometimes called meteoroids to
distinguish them from the larger asteroids.
When such a body enters the Earth's atmosphere
it is heated to incandescence and the visible streak in the sky is known as a
meteor. If a piece of it survives to reach the Earth's surface it is
known as a meteorite.

Millions of meteors bright enough to see strike the Earth every day (amounting to
hundreds of tons of material).
All but a tiny fraction burn up in the atmosphere before reaching the ground.
The few that don't are our major source of physical information about the rest of
the solar system.

Finally, the space between the planets is not empty at all.
It contains a great deal of
microscopic dust and gas as well as radiation and magnetic fields.